The Wanderers: Chapter 1, The Meeting
by ki-tsu-ne11
Summary: The misadventures of the young boy, Ryouga Hibiki, and his not-quite side-kick, Trean Shraun.


Hi people of fanfiction.net, the story may be a little messed up, but I have reasons for that -_- this is my first story, i just want to thank you for taking the time out of your day to read it, thank you.  
  
/kit  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: i do not own the characters of this story, and or some parts of this story, are taken from other animes and some of them are made up  
  
Wanderers - chapter 1 the meeting  
  
We begin our journey of the wanders, with a young teenage boy named Ryouga, and the strange Shraun. The story begins in northern Asia, in the middle of the woods, were we find our would be heroes.  
  
Ryouga is seen jumping through the trees mumbling to himself. "Should have gotten a map." He stops and looks around. "What way am I going?" he mumbles as he continues moving. After what seems 20ft Ryouga trips on a branch and falls in to someone's camp.  
  
The man in the cloak looks down at Ryouga. The man looks rather pale. Like he hasn't seen the sun in weeks even though it is shining and is a very bright day. The man speaks to Ryouga in a deep smooth voice, "Hey kid you alright, that was quiet a fall."  
  
Ryouga, still laying on the ground, looks up in to the trees rubbing his head. "Yeah, I think I am." Ryouga sits up from were he fell and looks up to the man who's camp he had falling in to. "So, um, who are you and why are you way out in the middle of the woods?"  
  
The man walks back to the fire and sits down, then he picks up a cup of what looks like tea. He takes a sip of some tea and looks up at Ryouga. "My name is Trean Shraun, and I'm out here training my skills." Shraun sits down his cup of tea and looks at Ryouga " and where were you heading?" Ryouga continues to rub his head "Oh, I was heading to some village, but I seem to have gotten lost." Shraun picks up his cup and takes another sip "Village huh? Were might this village be...... Oh, by the way, I never caught your name." Ryouga looks around "Oh my name's Ryouga, nice to meet you Mr. Shraun." he walks over and sits by the fire.  
  
Shraun looks at Ryouga, "Nice to meet you too Ryouga. And please, just call me Shraun."  
  
Shraun finishes his cup of tea and stands up heading to a tent on the far side of the camp. "If you want, you can stay here for the night."  
  
Ryouga looks up from the fire, "Sure, why not. I don't seem to have any were else I'm going right now..." Shraun opens the flap of the tent, "Hold on and I'll get you a bed to sleep on." Shraun reaches in to his cloak and pulls out a cot.  
  
Ryouga looks in amazement at the feat. "WHAT THE HELL, HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"  
  
Shraun looks back at Ryouga, "Ryo my boy, that's a story for another day, but for now, it's too late to tell it."  
  
Ryouga stands up looking at Shraun, still in awe over the cloak thing. "Ok, I guess I'll follow you around, but first, I want to go to a village up north. There's a job there that suposidly pays a lot." Ryouga walks over and sits on the cot.  
  
Shraun pulls off his cloak and sits it under the bed, then lays down on his cot. "Ok then, we head north tomorrow, so get some sleep."  
  
Ryouga lays back in bed thinking to himself. "How does that cloak work, I think its rather cool. I'll try to get him to talk about it tomorrow."  
  
Well, Shraun and Ryouga are sleeping now, but something doesn't seem right. It's hours before sunrise and 2 men walk in to their camp. They are dressed almost entirely in black.  
  
The duo walk up the th tent and open the front flap. They appear to be robbers looking for stuff to steal. The 2 look down, seeing a young boy (Ryouga) and the older looking man Shraun sleeping. The robbers look around the tent trying to find anything good. They look down at the end of Ryouga's bed, finding his backpack and a well-crafted sword. The 2 look at each other and smile an evil smile. They take Ryouga's pack and his sword and ran off in to the woods.  
  
About an hour or so after the 2 robbers made off with Ryouga's stuff, Shraun wakes Ryouga up. "Hey Ryo wake up its time to eat".  
  
Ryouga wakes up and rolls out of bed. "I'm up....god, give me a brake, it's not like we have to go any were so soon". He stands up and walks over the fire " I thought you said it was done."  
  
Shraun looks up and laughs, "Did I say it was done, I meant it was almost done."  
  
Ryouga looks in to the pot, "So what's cooking anyway?"  
  
Shraun takes a spoon full of rice, "It's fried rice." Ryouga sniffs the rice, "Hmmm smells good."  
  
Shraun pulls a bowl from his cloak and dishes some rice in to it. "How's this?" Ryouga holds one hand out in front of Shraun, "Yeah that's fine."  
  
Shraun places the bowl into Ryouga's hand, "Eat up kid. Oh and look out, it might be hot."  
  
Ryouga starts to eat, but not paying attention to Shraun's warning his eyes light up and he starts looking around franticly "WATER, WATER, DO YOU HAVE ANY WATER??!!"  
  
Shraun looks at him and starts to laugh. "Kid, I told you it was hot." Shraun pulls a canteen from his cloak and hands it to Ryouga. "Here kid."  
  
Ryouga grabs the canteen and drinks in large gulps, "T- t- thanks, now lets try that again."  
  
Shraun laughs as Ryouga takes a spoon full of rice and blows on it. "Ok, here goes nothing." Ryouga sticks the spoon full of rice in to his mouth. "Damn, this is good stuff. Your going to have to give me the recipe for it."  
  
Shraun looks up and swallows a bite of rice " Of course it'ss good kid, but, um, the recipe, yeah, I'll give it to you just as soon as I remember it."  
  
Ryouga looks up at Shraun and notices something is missing. "WHAT THE HELL......my stuff is gone."  
  
Shraun looks back at the tent. "So it is."  
  
Ryouga sets the bowl down and runs over to the tent. "My sword , my pack..... everything , it's all gone".  
  
Shraun points to a pair of tracks leading into the woods. "Don't worry there going the same way we're going, so we can get your stuff back on the way."  
  
Ryouga walks over and sits down next to the fire, "...How do you know...is that north?".  
  
Shraun points to Ryouga's bowl, "Yeah its north, but we're not leaving until your rice is gone."  
  
Ryouga picks up his bowl. "But you have to get done too."  
  
Shraun holds up an empty bowl in front of Ryouga. "No I don't kid".  
  
Ryouga starts eating faster.  
  
Shraun gets up and walks over to the tent and pulls out the cots and puts them both into his cloak "Time to pick up." Ryouga looks up at Shraun thinking to him self "I really have to learn how that works." Shraun picks up the tent placing the whole thing in to his cloak. "Ok we're packed up, but are you done yet?"  
  
Ryouga throws an empty bowl at Shraun. "Yeah I'm done. Let's get going."  
  
Shraun opens his cloak and the bowl disappears into it. "Ok, i'll put out the fire then we head up north." Shraun pulls a bucket of water out from behind a tree and splashes the fire with it.  
  
Ryouga stands up and walks over next to the woods waiting for Shraun to hurry up with the fire. "Hey, Come on lets get going."  
  
Shraun kicks the fire, then walks to the edge of the woods in the opposite direction of the pair of foot prints. "Ryo, your going to go the wrong way if you go that way."  
  
Ryouga looks down and sees the tracks heading his way. "Uh-uh, tracks lead this way."  
  
Shraun walks over and points down the trail the tracks made. "They went that way to throw us off, you should know better. I figure they walked that way about an hour and a half then cam around that way," he points over his shoulder, "which means they've only got about a 3 hour lead on us." "um opps so we go this way". Ryouga thinks as he walks over to the other side of the camp. "how could I have been so dumb its this way" he thinks to himself.  
  
Shraun looks at Ryouga for a second. "Ok kid, are you ready to go get your shit back now?"  
  
Ryouga looks in to the woods. "Yeah. Let's go see if we can find them...hope its not too late."  
  
Shraun looks at Ryouga. "Ok.let's go then, we can talk on the way."  
  
Ryouga starts in to the woods. "Okie...." Shraun looks back at the camp for a second and then follows Ryouga into the woods.  
  
"So were are you from kid?" Shraun says as he floats past him.  
  
Ryouga looks up a little shocked to see that Shraun can fly. "I- I'm from a village that has long since been destroyed." He looks a little sad as he says it.  
  
Shraun lands on his feet. "Well that's to bad, but don't worry, now we have something in comon," he says looking up with a smile.  
  
Ryouga stops and looks at him, and then looks up trying to find out with Shraun is looking at "what do you mean something in common?"  
  
Shraun looks down. "Well the town I lived in was village and it was destroyed ....well enough about that tell me a little about your self."  
  
Ryouga looks ahead "Well let me see." He starts to walk scratching his head trying to think of something to say.  
  
Shraun walks up to Ryouga. "Ryo, can't you think of any thing to say?....what about your past?"  
  
Ryouga looks around and then at Shraun. "No sorry....I don't really have a past....I've been walking around by my self for 9 years of my life...that's all I know...wandering and mercenary work ....and i only have one friend left from the village, but I don't know were she went." He says as he continues walking.  
  
Shraun walks a little faster, "Wandering, and mercenary work... sense you were 8...god that must have sucked."  
  
Ryouga turns and looks at Shraun. "Well now actually it's quite fun."  
  
Shraun looks up surprised, "Oh I see."  
  
Ryouga shakes his head "Ok, now, I want to know a little about you."  
  
Shraun smiles, "Are you sure you want to know just a little about me."  
  
Ryouga looks over just a little lost. "What do you mean by that?"  
  
Shraun nods and starts talking. "Well, I'm 1150 years old, I was the prince of a country long ago named Romania, well, before it was destroyed that is." Then Shraun winks at him and laughs.  
  
Shraun looks over as Ryouga tries to say something. "Don't worry about saying anything, I'm not done yet," he says with a smile and starts again. "I died, and for some strange reason I was brought back to life. Don't ask me why or how cause i don't know, so I've been travelling for about 1000 years."  
  
Ryouga looks up again. "No wonder you look like your dead...."  
  
Shraun nods, "Yeah, that could be, but I think I look pretty good for my age, don't you?" He smiles and looks down.  
  
Ryouga shakes his head. "Ok, and I thought I was crazy."  
  
"Well Ryo, that's a little about me," he says as he looks down to make sure their still on the path.  
  
Ryouga scratches his head. "Wouldn't it go a lot faster if we ran.... They couldn't have gotten that far ahead of us."  
  
Shraun surges forward. "Well, you can run if you want, I'll keep up." He smiles and starts to float ahead.  
  
Ryouga starts to run. " HEY NO FAIR!!"  
  
Shraun laughs, "Come on Ryo my boy keep up. You can do it."  
  
Ryouga keeps up with Shraun. "H-hey, I'm not that slow."  
  
Shraun looks down at Ryouga. "Well, I'm not going that fast either. If you want me to, I can."  
  
Ryouga stumbles just a little and gets back on track. "YOUR NOT GOING THAT FAST.... WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?!"  
  
Shraun looks forward. "If you want, I can slow down, a little." Ryouga looks forward and up, sweat running down his face. "N-n-no, don't worry about it, good work out."  
  
Shraun looks back, then forward. "Ok, if you say so."  
  
After about a half an hour of running Shraun looks back. "Ok, we should be really close to the town." He sees that Ryouga's not there. "Shit, he must have fallen."  
  
Just as he says that, Ryouga comes staggering over the hill. "Huff- heave.....y-y-you went t-to fast....couldn't keep up."  
  
Shraun looks over to Ryouga. "Are you ok Ryo?"  
  
Ryouga looks up. "Y-y-yeah, I'm f...." he falls over.  
  
Shraun lands on the ground next to Ryouga. "Ok, that's enough running for.." He pauses as he hears something in the distance. "What was that? I better go cheek it out," he thinks to himself as he lays a canteen down next to Ryouga. "Drink up kid. I'll be back in a minute." Shraun stands up ands starts walking in the detraction that he heard the sound from. He goes about 20 steps when he starts to hear talking and laughter.  
  
"Hey man, I can't believe we got away with that kid's shit." The other man starts to laugh.  
  
"HAHA YEAH I KNOW, just look at this sword, this thing will ketch a good price in the market."  
  
Shraun steps into the air about a half a foot and floats up to were he can see the 2 men.  
  
The man holding the sword says "Wonder how strong this thing is." He stands up and takes a whack at a tree and the sword goes through it. "HOLLY SHIT, DID YOU SEE THAT."  
  
He turns to see the other bandit being held off the ground by the neck. Shraun smiles and looks at the man holding the sword. "You might want to put that down before your friend here dies."  
  
The man holds the sword up facing Shraun. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHAT FUCK DO YOU WANT?"  
  
Shraun look down to the man who's neck he's holding. "Who the hell i am is none of your concern. The camp that you stole from was mine, and the items that you took were a friend of mine and i would like them back."  
  
The man with the sword points it up a little higher and starts walking towards Shraun. "Well your going to have to kill me to get that shit back, and I'm sure this sword can cut you in half like a knife to butter." Shraun laughs and looks down at the man he has in his grasp. "Well, that's fine with me, bloodshed is something I haven't seen in a long time."  
  
The man inches closer, he looks a little pissed, and scared at the same time. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT YOU BASTERED, YOUR THE ONE WHOS GOING TO DIE!!!"  
  
Shraun looks down at the man and snaps his neck with a twist of the wrist and drops the man "No no no. It's you who are going to die my friend, you see, I am already dead. " He says as he disappears in to thin air.  
  
The man with the sword looks around. "WERE DID YOU GO YOU COWERED, COME OUT AND FI...."  
  
Shraun re-appears with a firm grasp pn the mans neck. "I was willing to let you go, but you gave me no choice."  
  
The man drops the sword and looks at Shraun with true fear in his eyes. "S- sorr..."  
  
Shraun snaps his neck. "To late for sorrys. You should have thought of that be for you put your life into my hands."  
  
Shraun drops the man, whose body falls limply to the ground. "Man, people just aren't scared of me till it's too late." He smile and starts to gather up Ryouga's stuff. "Ryo, your going to thank me for this later."  
  
He looks down at the bodies and slings the backpack over his shoulder, then reaches down and picks up the sword and slides it back in its sheath. "Ok, back to ryo." He thinks to him self and starts back the way he came.  
  
He wanderers up to the place were he had left Ryouga and sees him sipping away at the canteen he had left. "Hey ryo, you feel better?"  
  
Ryouga continues to sip away, and nods his head a little. "Gulp gulp....yeah I fell *burp* better. Thanks."  
  
Shraun walks over to Ryouga. "Well, I found something that's going to make you feel a lot better then that water does."  
  
Ryouga looks up, still sipping at the water with a lost look on his face.  
  
Shraun drops the bag down in front of him. "I found your stuff."  
  
Ryouga looks at the bag for a second then drops the water, launching himself at the bag and hugging it. "THANK YOU THANK YOU!!  
  
Shraun pulls his hand back fast after dropping the bag. "Ee, that could have been my arm. Slow down kid. it's not a big deal, it's just a bag."  
  
Ryouga looks up. "It's not just a bag, it's all I have left from the village I lived in."  
  
Shraun looks down and sighs. "Oh, now i see , sorry".  
  
Ryouga looks up with a smile. "Don't worry about it. It's all here, so I'm happy."  
  
Ryouga stands up and shoulders the bag, and raps the rope that's on the sword to his belt. "So we're off now, right?"  
  
Shraun nods. "Yeah, the town isn't that far now, only another hour or two."  
  
Ryouga's jaw drops. "....... an hour or two.... that's not cool , but any how, let's go." Ryouga starts sprinting. Shraun jogs after him. "Ok, this time ryo, I'll use my feet." He says as he runs up next to Ryouga.  
  
Ryouga turns his head to the side and looks at Shraun. "Ok, maybe this time I can keep up."  
  
Shraun jogs next to Ryouga. "I'll try not to go as fast this time."  
  
Ryouga looks ahead. "Ok..."  
  
About an hour and a half later the forest comes to an end. Shraun stops. "Ok, just over this hill."  
  
Ryouga bends over and holds onto his knees. "Just over this hill? THATS WHAT YOU SAID AND HOUR AGO!! And I thought my sense of direction was bad."  
  
Shraun hits him over the head. "No one's sense of direction is as bad as yours. It's just old age, you see."  
  
Ryouga grabs his head and then stands up. "Old age my ass. Let's just keep going."  
  
Shraun laughs a little. "Ok. Let's."  
  
They walk over the hill, Shraun points to a town in the distance. "See, what'd I tell ya?"  
  
Ryouga looks up from the ground. "Ok, so you were right. What, do you want a cookie?"  
  
Shraun turns to Ryouga nodding his head. "Yeah, sure, I'll take a cookie."  
  
Ryouga looks surprised. "Well too bad, I don't have one."  
  
Shraun turns around a little disappointed. "OK, THEN DONT ASK ME IF I WANT ONE!!! *sniff * That really hurt my feelings..... I really wanted a cookie, too."  
  
Ryouga laughs and continues walking. "I'll get you one in town."  
  
Shraun looks up and says "Really? Cool, thanks." Ryouga smiles. "Least I can do for you after you getting my shit back."  
  
Shraun scratches his head. "Oh yeah, I did get your stuff back didn't I...almost forgot."  
  
Ryouga's head drops a little. "What, your telling me...".  
  
Shraun cuts him off. "I'm kidding. You know that, right?"  
  
Ryouga jumps up and hits Shraun over the head. "DONT DO THAT!!"  
  
Shraun grabs his head. "Ok, ok, I wont. Sheesh."  
  
The two of them continue walking. It seems to be a little farther then they thought.  
  
After about 15 minutes of walking, they make it to the entrance of the village. The village has a few inns, and a couple of bars, a few really nice houses....this village must be a rich one.  
  
Ryouga walks up to the entrance. "So what do we do first?"  
  
Shraun walks up next to Ryouga. "Well Ryo, we could get something to eat first if you want, or we can hunt that job down that you were talking about."  
  
Ryouga nods. "We get food first, and maybe some one at the bar will know were we can get that job." Ryouga starts walking into the town.  
  
There's quite a lot of people walking through the town. Nicely dressed men and women and a few children are running around and playing with each other.  
  
Shraun follows Ryouga into the town. "Ok, I've been here before, but it's been a long time. Where is that bar at?" He wanders around, down alleys and main roads searching for a specific bar.  
  
Ryouga follows Shraun, taking a looks around as he walks. "A nice little town....so big...."  
  
Shraun stops and points to a sign that hangs over a building. "Found it. The Dragon Knights, it's a nice little bar, let's go see if they'll let us in."  
  
Ryouga looks up at the sign. The sign has a large symbol of a shield with a dragon like knight painted on it, the symbols faded from rain, snow, and wind. "Looks like a nice place to eat, good and old."  
  
Shraun nods. "Yeah, It's been here for a while now." Shraun walks up to the door and walks in.  
  
Ryouga walks in and sees that every ones stopped talking and is looking up at Shraun, he looks up at Shraun. "What's wrong with them?"  
  
Shraun whispers back to Ryouga. "I have no fucking clue what's wrong."  
  
The man at the bar looks back at a picture on the wall then back at Shraun. "OH MY GOD, IT'S HIM, MR TREAN WELCOME BACK!" As he says that every one raises there glasses to Shraun and cheers.  
  
Ryouga stumbles just a little then stand up. "Ok, what's this all about?"  
  
Shraun looks back laughing. "I should have told you. I own this bar."  
  
Ryouga walks over to the bar. "Hey, could we get something to eat?"  
  
The bar tender looks up. "Sure. A friend of Mr. Trean's can have any thing he likes."  
  
Ryouga looks up with a smile. "Great, then i'll take the blue plate special."  
  
The bar tender yells to the back. " HEY GUYS, ONE BLUE PLATE."  
  
As the bar tender yells some one in the back yells something back, but Ryouga can't make it out.  
  
Shraun walks up to the bar. "Could I get a bottle of your best drink?"  
  
The bar tender pulls out a bottle from under the counter. "Here ya go, Mr. Trean."  
  
Shraun picks up the bottle and walks over to one of the table and sits down and starts to drink  
  
After about 14 minutes of waiting at the bar, Ryouga's meal comes out. "Hey kid, here ya go. Oh and by any chance, is your name Ryouga?"  
  
Ryouga goes to pick up the plate. "Yeah, I am Ryouga. Why?".  
  
The bar tender nods. "Hey kid, take a seat for a minute, I have some messages for ya."  
  
Ryouga sits down and starts to eat his mean. "Messages for me....?".  
  
"Yeah, there was a young girl, about your age, in here a few days ago looking for you." The bartender says as he sits down behind the counter.  
  
Ryouga stops eating "A young girl?! What was her name?"  
  
He looks up "Her name was Ukyou, she said you would know right away if I told you her name."  
  
Ryougas eyes light up as he leaps to his feet. "Ukyou.....did she say she was going to stay in town?"  
  
He nods. "Yeah, she said she was going to stay for little while. She might still be in town."  
  
Ryouga bows his head and sits back down and eats. "Ok. Finish this and then go look for Ukyou."  
  
A few people come up to the bar and ask for a few drinks, the bar tender gets them some, while Ryouga eats his meal. They leave with their drinks.  
  
Ryouga finishes eating. "Ok, how much do I owe you?" he says as he hands the bar tender the plate and silverwear.  
  
That bartender takes the plate and silver wear. "15 gill"  
  
Ryouga pulls out some gill from his pouch on his belt and hands it to the bar tender. "Hey, thanks a bunch, I might be back later for some more food, it was really good." Ryouga walks over to shraun, who's almost drunk now. Shraun looks up at Ryouga. "H-hey kiddo, you ready to go?"  
  
Ryouga shakes his head smiling. "You know that girl I was telling you about? She might still be in this town."  
  
Shraun stands up and shakes his head. He doesn't seem to be drunk any more. "She might be? Then let's go took for her."  
  
Ryouga starts for the door. "Ok, where would she be?" He stops and looks back at the bartender. "Where did she say she was going to be?"  
  
The bar tender looks at Ryouga. "I think she said the Dark Raven Inn." He says that, then gets back to counting some money.  
  
Shraun starts for the door then stops and yells at the bar tender. "Thanks again Jim, I'll be back later for something more to drink."  
  
Jim, the bartender, looks up and waves to Shraun. "Ok sir. Can't wait to see ya again."  
  
Ryouga and Shraun walk out of the bar looking for Ryouga's childhood friend. 


End file.
